Background check and Financial background checks on a specific person is part of a procedure applied to loan and lease transactions, business and used for potential employee. This information consist of such items as your loan repayment history, credit score, bankruptcy, or tax liens. If you are searching for information about a person’s financial situation and background check, Digital Trends shows us on how to run a free background check.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that everyone has skeletons in their closet. Whether it is those classic Facebook photos of underage drinking in college (sorry ma) or the complete criminal record of your sister’s new boyfriend, the internet is a virtual graveyard of background information. While some of it takes a tad bit of snooping to obtain, much of it is readily available through public records or broadcast to the world voluntarily through online social networks.

Falsifying or a misrepresenting your information can prevent you from getting that dream job, buying that swanky car you’ve always wanted or taking out a mortgage on your first home. That being said, the first person you should run a background check on is yourself. Doing so will allow you to check your credit report and insurance information for inaccuracies and let you see your Social Security earnings among other things. Plus, double-checking your records will give you a better idea of what potential landlords, employers, or anyone else might see about you if they decide to do a little detective work of their own.

Here’s our how-to guide to running a comprehensive background check, from finances to felonies, with or without dropping a dime.

Updated on 12-13-2013 by Thor Benson: This article has been updated since it was originally published to include additional services.

Using search engines

The first place you should start is your favorite search engine. Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines are a treasure trove of information if you know your target’s name or any relevant information pertaining to him or her. The websites provide a broad starting point from which to branch out and the advanced search options will help you narrow your search results and pinpoint the information you seek.

For example, you can isolate search terms to a particular order by simply putting a name in quotation marks in the search bar. Searching “John Smith” will search the first and last name in that particular order and filter out any results that don’t match your exact specifications. Also try throwing in any relevant information you may know about your target such as his or her city of residence, job occupation, or education following the quotation marks to greater limit your search results.